


golden repair

by JaeRianL



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Alternate Universe - Diners, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27012163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaeRianL/pseuds/JaeRianL
Summary: The kintsukuroi (金繕い) marks, taken from the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with lacquer, are the rarest kind of soulmark on the planet, with less than 1 in 50 million possessing this mark.Fitz is just a sleep deprived waiter at May's Diner, and is not being paid nearly enough to deal with the likes of Milton on a daily basis.Bobbi is an up and coming actress who really doesn't want to go to May's Diner after a long day of travelling.When they meet, they could make something incredible.
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Bobbi Morse
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	golden repair

The gold has painted his skin ever since he was born, an abstract tapestry of a life he may never encounter. There’s a beauty in the marks that Leo struggles to see at times, the years of watching people with less obtrusive marks meet their other halves while he was here shimmering in the dark and nothing. But he clings onto the reassurances his mother gave him before she passed, her last words begging him to find his one true love, so he tries to stay as positive as he can.

Well, sometimes. When he’s dealing with snobby morons like Milton first thing in the morning, it’s safe to say his positivity wains slightly. Fitz would love to not have to work at May’s Diner, but it seems that even child geniuses with PhDs are fucked over by the job market just as much as regular individuals, leaving him here. It’s not all bad, after all May and her husband Phil practically adopted him into the family the moment he’d tutored their twin daughters and got them to pass maths, but being around Milton (no matter how briefly he stays) after a long night shift is enough to make anyone consider quitting. 

Thankfully, Milton leaves before Fitz has to chase him out of the diner, the Scotsman pitying the poor sod destined to be with him. Milling around the diner, offering free refills to the truckers sitting around the place, Fitz can’t help but notice the super fancy looking procession of cars and trailers driving along the motorway. Deciding not to let his curiosity get the better of him, he focuses on tidying up all the plates he needs to send back to the kitchen, keeping one ear open in case the patrons decide to start gossiping - god if there’s one thing Fitz has learnt since working here, it’s that truckers are worse gossips than mean girls at secondary school. 

Rolling his sleeves up as he wanders around the floor aimlessly, Fitz glances at the dainty shaving scars and the scar running across the palm of his hand, no doubt from some evil cat his soulmate had encountered. Hearing the bell ring, he jogs over to the new herd of customers, putting on his best customer service smile as he takes in the sheer size of the group. Dear lord, poor Davis is going to have a conniption at the order he’s going to have to put through at this time of night, well, morning. 

“Hiya, welcome to May’s Diner, I’m Fitz and I’ll be your server today. Are you guys expecting anymore people today?” He asks, praying that they say no as he mentally tries to rearrange the free tables.

“We’re just waiting for one more person, but I’m not sure when she’ll get here, so do you mind if we sit now?” The giant black man asks, exhaustion written on his face.

“That’s perfectly fine, just give me two minutes to arrange the tables and I’ll be with you. In the meantime, if you’d like to take a look at the menus.”

Jogging over to the emptiest part of the diner he can find, shooing away one of the regulars who laughs at him when he sees the size of the group, Fitz hastily wipes down the tables before dragging them together, scowling at the horrific noises they’re making. When he’s managed to manoeuvre all of the bastard tables into a straight line, Fitz heads back over to the group, the mystery woman still missing. He beckons for them to follow him, doing his absolute best not to eavesdrop onto their conversation, and waits for them to settle down into their seats before asking what drinks they’d like. Scribbling down the responses onto his notepad at a speed that should not be possible, and is definitely not legible, Fitz smiles at the group before turning around and almost knocking over the final member of the party.

Apologising profusely, fulfilling every British stereotype known to mankind, Fitz asks her what drink she’d like before trying to make a retreat to behind the counter, where he’d be safe. But just as he turns to leave, he catches the same pale white scar from when he’d broken his arm emboldened in gold on hers, mirroring his own. Cursing his luck, Fitz ducks away from the group, looking upwards in disgust as he considers how god has betrayed him once again.

Because this woman who apparently is the one person in the world who’s meant to complete him is an absolute goddess, so kind and caring and beautiful too. And this was how they got introduced, with him almost accidentally rugby tackling her to the floor. He knows it’s daft, god it’s the type of crap his mum used to come out with, but he can’t help but feel as though the stars will shine brighter now that he has seen her. Firm in his belief that this would be the last time he sees her, Fitz decides that he needs to make the most of this interaction, and certainly never reveal this revelation to Daisy or Kora.

He rolls down his sleeves and makes up three trays of drinks, glaring at the regulars, silently daring them to get in his way or try to steal their drinks. Fitz may not be an engineer or a scientist anymore, but that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten everything he’d learnt over the years, and he most certainly isn’t afraid to use it on them. Weaving around the seemingly endless supply of tables, he passes the first two trays to the tall black man and the gobby Englishman before turning around to bring over the third tray, placing it at the centre of the tables. 

“Right, now, with that out of the way, does everyone know what they want to order?”

Like magic, it’s like the damn breaks and suddenly everyone is bombarding him with order requests, which Fitz manages to write down clearly enough that Davis could read it and not mess up. Despite his hand cramping up halfway through the table’s orders, he carries on writing, not wanting to risk missing out on a single thing. Shaking his head slightly as he reads through the pages of orders, he takes a deep breath as he prepares himself to reread it all.

“So that’s five pancakes, two chocolate chip, one plain vegan, two blueberry, vegan whipped cream on the plain and one blueberry, three omelettes, one ham and cheese, one mushroom, ham and onion and one ham, cheese and tomatoes, two full English fry-ups, without black pudding, and five orders of French toast. Oh and a fried egg sandwich! Have I missed anything?” 

The stunned silence that follows is unnerving, and Fitz resists the urge to look to his soulmate for comfort, or fiddle with his shirt sleeves.

“No mate, you’re absolutely right, but, how?” The Englishman asks, awe in his eyes.

Shrugging at the group, Fitz reaches over to grab the menus, shivers running down his spine as his hands brush his soulmate’s. Smiling at the group, Fitz heads into the kitchen, personally delivering the order to watch Davis’s meltdown firsthand. He cackles as his coworker’s eyes bug out and he starts to curse Fitz out using the only Mandarin he knows - a requirement for working at May’s is to know some Mandarin at least, and if you’re serving you have to know Spanish and ASL too, at minimum. Flipping his middle finger at Davis, Fitz makes his rounds with the truckers, all of them eyeing the coffee as if it were liquid ambrosia itself.

Watching as the early morning hours draw to a close, and the highway becomes increasingly busier, Fitz impatiently waits for Davis to ring the bell, wanting to get a good last look at his soulmate - he really needs to find out her name. Soon enough, he hears the high pitched bell ring, and soon Fitz is balancing four overflowing plates on his arms, bearing them outwards to the patrons whilst calling out the orders. Catching bits and pieces of the conversations as he walks to and from the kitchen, he learns that the group are part of some project that’s shooting down the road from here, and so far has picked up that Mack is the giant tank of a man, Hunter’s the Englishman with poor taste in footy teams, Elena is the Spanish speaking woman and also Mack’s girlfriend and Bobbi is the woman who is his soulmate. Only issue is that she and Hunter have had a thing together which, going off of the jokes at the table, is on again. Definitely shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up then.

Finally, he comes over with the last plates and some napkins, and wishes them all a good meal, lamenting over the fact he’s never going to have a chance with Bobbi. Fitz cleans up the mess left by the truckers, although it’s a lot better than when he’d started there and had to go all angry Scotsman scientist on them, and mentally begs Piper to come in on time so he can finish his shift.

Standing behind the counter, getting some work done for his language classes, Fitz keeps an ear out, listening in to the various conversations going on at the group table. After a while he hears them finish their food, and hears talk about paying the check, so Fitz gets it sorted for them, trying not to wince at the price of food they’d be paying. God he can only hope that they’re good tippers, it certainly wouldn’t go amiss. Walking up to them with a smile on his face, Fitz puts the check on the middle of the table, allowing them to argue over who would pay, the Englishman staying clear of the argument. In the distance, Fitz hears the bell ring and laughs when he hears Piper’s confused footsteps wandering around the diner.

“Oi Fitzipold where are you?” She yells, completely oblivious to the customers in front of him.

“I’m dealing with customers Piper, what is it?” He shouts back, turning his head so they wouldn’t be bombarded with his screaming.

As she walks up to him, Fitz listens as she bitches about her girlfriend in Mandarin, laughing as the story soon segues into a rant about Davis, offended at the fact his mother had the nerve to name him James and not David D. Davis like she’d thought. She stops dead in her tracks when she sees the size of the group, and practically sprints back into the kitchen, cursing him out for not telling her that it wasn’t the truckers there. Ignoring the questioning looks sent his way, Fitz thanks the customers before taking the card machine and tip from the table, eyes widening at the sight of three one hundred dollar bills. Spluttering to himself, he insists they must be mad, this is twice what the food cost them, and he knows he’s a decent waiter but he’s not that good, however every time he tries to return it, they all shoot him down, insisting they can pay for it. 

Bidding them all farewell, Fitz notices that Bobbi hesitates momentarily, as if she wants to speak with him, but then she shakes her head and follows the others, causing him to dismiss the idea entirely. Forcing Piper to help him tidy the table, what with there being nothing else for her to do there, they rearrange the diner in record time, and soon enough Fitz is clocking out, taking his tips on the way out of the door. Getting into his car, Fitz feels a wave of melancholy wash over him, as he fully computes how much he’d screwed up with Bobbi, mourning the loss of what could’ve been a beautiful relationship with someone as perfect as her.

\-----

There’s one shift that Fitz loves to take without any hesitation and that’s the afternoon/evening shift. He could do without bratty children and their stuck up mothers, but being able to see the twins makes up for it. He’s watched them grow up so much over the past five years of working there, the girls now half way through their sophomore year of high school, and he wouldn’t trade these moments for the world.

And today is no different. The moment he sees Melinda’s car park outside, he knows he has mere seconds to get in front of the counter before he’s tackled into hugs by Daisy and Kora, the pair always happy to see him. With Fitz only being twenty three, they see him less of a responsible adult figure and more of an older brother, which means he finds himself entertaining the pair of them most nights in between customers. Dropping a kiss to each of their foreheads, he pulls out a slice of pie for them to share before doing their homework, a routine that Melinda is not overly impressed with but has grown to reluctantly accept over the years. 

He listens as they catch him up on all the gossip, Daisy happily informing him that her timer’s now only down to two weeks and some change, and how thrilled she is to meet her soulmate. When he notices Kora look disheartened, her own timer not set to go off for a few more years, Fitz kindly reassures her that he has yet to meet his soulmate and since he’s older than her, it’s no worry at all. As Melinda walks past, he offers her two coffees and some pastries that he’d gotten Deke, the new hire and Melinda’s biggest headache, to bake, knowing that the chaos she’d be entering would be easily soothed with caffeine and sugar. 

Milling around the diner, Fitz resists the temptation to throttle the mother ignoring her child throwing food about, and rather sets the child a disappointed look he’s perfected over the years at the diner, smirking to himself as the child stops instantly. So when he hears the twins squealing from the counter, Fitz speeds over to them, only to find the pair of them harassing some woman sitting at the counter.

“Oi!” He calls out, garnering the attention of everyone bar the regulars who’ve seen this happen before. “What the bloody hell d’ya think you’re doing?”

The girls freeze, turning to look at him in sync as their faces fill with dread, eyes still lit up with excitement.

“Fitz don’t you know who this is? This is  _ the _ Bobbi Morse!” Daisy exclaims, swinging her arms around so hard she almost whacks Kora in the face.

“Cool. Does that mean either of you have the right to harass her when she’s just trying to have a drink or get something to eat?”

“No Fitz.” They mutter, hanging their head in shame.

“Right then, you guys go apologise to Bobbi and then do your homework, and I’ll be telling your mum about this too.”

Wiping his hands on the hand towel popping out of his apron, Fitz apologetically smiles at Bobbi, taking her order while the girls talk amongst themselves. Leaning against the counter, Fitz takes a look at the homework sheets, gently correcting Daisy when she gets some of the questions wrong and encouraging Kora when she starts getting distracted by the noise coming from the kitchen. As a result, he’s totally oblivious to Bobbi’s longing stares, the blonde woman enamoured with how kind he is, and how respectful too.

Working in Hollywood, she feels constantly like she’s no longer a person, but a piece of art to be ogled at, but how he’d reacted when the girls had treated her like that solidified every positive thought she’d had about him since meeting him that morning. In fact, she hadn’t even wanted to go to the diner, exhausted from shoots and wanting to take a break, but when she’d received a text from Hunter telling her about his guy with golden scars like hers, well she’d known she needed to check and see. And so she’d turned up, looking less put together than usual, and yet he’d looked at her like she was beautiful, before diverting his gorgeous blue eyes away from her.

So of course she needed to see him again before they wrapped up their location shoots, wanting to give their potential a shot. Watching him work only enforces how much she wants to be with him, seeing the gentle smiles, the kind explanations, never raising his voice or saying a bad word to or about anyone. Plus, knowing he’s good with kids is never a bad thing, and Bobbi’s sure that if she ever sees him with puppies, her heart will melt.

She’s drawn from her musings by the strong scent of coffee wafting up her nose, and she blushes when she sees Fitz waving a coffee pot under her chin to gain her attention, an endeared smile gracing his face. Breathing heavily, she bites back the noise of mortification itching to escape her mouth, and instead listens to the goings on of the diner around her, the twins now completely silent. Turning her head, she sees the teenage girls buzzing with excitement beside her, their homework now nowhere to be seen.

“Miss Morse, we’re really sorry for how we behaved earlier.” The blonde twin starts, anxiously rubbing the back of her neck.

“Yeah, we acted really stupidly and we both know better. We were just really excited because you’re playing Mockingbird, and she’s like our favourite superhero ever.” The brunette tacks on, unintentionally stunning Bobbi into silence. She’s been recognised before, but never has anyone referred to her character as their favourite superhero.

“So if it isn’t much trouble, could we maybe take a picture with you? Only if you want to though.”

Blinking back the tears, Bobbi nods, smiling when Fitz gracelessly hops over the counter, grabbing the brunette’s phone from her hand as he holds it up for the pictures. He takes a few, the shutter sounds going off as he holds the button, and Bobbi beams when she sees how happy the girls are in the pictures. Passing the phone back to Kora, as she’d introduced herself, Fitz takes the opportunity to do another lap of the diner, Bobbi getting more and more impatient to talk with him, although she’s not mad about watching Fitz’s ass in those pants.

When the girls’ mom steps out of the back office, she can’t help but blush as she hears the pair gush about meeting her, her face burning bright red as she desperately sips her coffee. Thankfully, by the time Fitz makes it back to the counter, she’s dragged the pair away, leaving just her and the Scotsman left alone. She smiles gratefully as he fills up her coffee cup, bracing herself to start the conversation.

“So,” she says, reaching her hand out and grabbing his, “I couldn’t help but notice that we seem to share a lot of the same scars.” 

“That we do, what do you wanna do about it?” He asks, lacing their fingers together and rubbing his thumb on the back of her hand.

“Well, I was thinking we could get to know one another over drinks before the shoot ends, and see where we go from there.”

“As long as I’m not serving them, I’m down for that.”

Positively beaming at the confirmation, Bobbi hands her phone over to Fitz, a new contact page already open, waiting for his number. She links their pinkies together as he types in his number, marvelling in the way the diner lighting reflects off of the scars on display on Fitz’s strong arms, buzzing with joy when he passes the phone back, his name saved as Leo. Well, that solves that mystery, after all Mr Leo Morse sounds so much better than Mr Fitz Morse, and if Bobbi has it her way, that’s exactly where they’ll end up.

(She is positively thrilled to discover that when they get married, he’ll be Dr Leo Morse instead.)

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! Let me know what you thought & come find me on [ Tumblr](https://acetoshikosato.tumblr.com/)! Thanks for reading!!
> 
> Jae <3


End file.
